CYPRUS: Microsoft and Police join forces against cybercrime

In an effort to deepen specialisation and build capacity in the fight against cybercrime, trafficking and possession of child pornography, the Cyprus Police organised a workshop entitled "Fighting Cyber Crime", in collaboration with Microsoft Cyprus and NetClean.

The main goal of the workshop – held on July 8 – was the training of police officers to deal with the increasing threats of cybercrime. The Cyprus Police acknowledges that the complexity of cybercrime is constantly increasing, and considers it imperative to build the knowledge base and capacity of the police force in this area. Microsoft Cyprus similarly acknowledges the importance of fighting cybercrime and contributed to this important initiative by inviting an expert from abroad to deliver the content and training to members of the Office for Combating Cyber Crime, and investigators from the Criminal Investigation Office around the island.

“It is a pleasure to be back and to see how well the cybercrime police has integrated our technology and achieved significant workload reduction and superior results in their investigations into child exploitation. We hope to achieve similar success with the units working other crime types throughout the country”, said NetClean’s Johann Hofmann.

Referring to the initiative, the Citizenship Lead of Microsoft Cyprus Laura Anne Ker-Lindsay stated that “as part of the YouthSpark programme, aimed at supporting youth, Microsoft focuses heavily on cyber safety and security issues, with the fight against child pornography an important priority for Microsoft. This is why we are providing the Cyprus Police with relevant technologies and training, with the dual aim of bringing perpetrators to justice and to stop the further victimisation of children and organizations”.